Time at Biltmore
Day three in Asheville was probably one of my favorite days of our entire trip because it had a little bit of everything. The day before, we had spent hours hiking through DuPont State Recreational Forest, seeing waterfalls, and apparently testing just how coordinated I am on a hiking trail. So when we woke up on day three, I was more than ready for a day that involved beautiful places, good food, drinks, and significantly less physical activity.
We started the morning at Biscuit Head, which had been on my Asheville list from the beginning. If you’ve searched for breakfast spots in Asheville, you’ve probably already seen this place come up. Their biscuits are huge, there are so many different ways you can order them, and they have a jam bar where you can try different flavors. It was casual, quick, and exactly what we wanted before heading to the main event of the day: Biltmore.
Spending the Day at Biltmore Estate
I obviously knew Biltmore Estate was going to be beautiful, but I don’t think I realized how massive the entire property was until we were actually there. It’s really not somewhere you should plan to pop into for an hour, tour the house, and leave. Between Biltmore House itself, the gardens, the Conservatory, Antler Hill Village, the winery, restaurants, shops, and the grounds, you could easily spend the majority of your day there.
We started by touring Biltmore House, and even if you’re not normally someone who gets excited about touring historic homes, it’s pretty impossible not to be impressed by this one. Walking through the rooms and learning about the Vanderbilt family made it so much more interesting than simply looking at a really big, beautiful house. There are details everywhere you look, and every time I thought we had already seen the most impressive room, we’d walk into another one. It’s one of those places where pictures don’t really prepare you for the scale of it.
After touring the house, we spent some time exploring the grounds before making our way over to Antler Hill Village. One of my biggest takeaways from visiting Biltmore is that you really do need to give yourself time to experience more than just the house. Antler Hill has restaurants, shops, the winery, and other things to explore, and it gives you a completely different experience from the historic side of the estate. It also had Jeremy and me talking about how much fun it would be to come back with the kids and our family because there really is something for everyone there.
If you’re planning Biltmore during your own Asheville trip, I would dedicate a good chunk of your day to it. Don’t schedule yourself so tightly that you’re watching the clock the entire time. Tour the house, walk around the property, take the pictures, explore Antler Hill, and actually give yourself time to enjoy where you are. After our waterfall adventure the day before, I was VERY happy to have a day where we could explore at our own pace.
A Night Out in Downtown Asheville
Once we finished at Biltmore, we headed back toward downtown Asheville, and this is where the day went from sightseeing to date night. One thing I really started to love about downtown Asheville during this trip was that we didn’t necessarily need a huge plan every time we went there. There are so many restaurants, bars, shops, breweries, and little places to discover that we could park, start walking, and decide what sounded fun.
We started the evening at Flat Iron Rooftop Bar, which was such a good spot to sit down, grab a drink, and take in the views over Asheville. After spending the day walking around Biltmore, having nowhere we needed to be for a little while felt so good. We could sit, have a drink, talk, and just enjoy being out together. Those little pockets of time ended up being some of my favorite parts of this trip because at home there is always something happening, someone needs something, or we’re trying to get somewhere on time.
From there, we ended up at Off The Wagon Dueling Piano Bar, and this was easily one of the most fun nights we had in Asheville. If you’ve never been to dueling pianos, it’s basically live music, song requests, drinks, singing along, and an entire room of people collectively forgetting that none of us can actually sing. It was loud, completely different from our afternoon at Biltmore, and SO much fun. If you’re planning a couples getaway to Asheville and want something to actually do at night instead of just hopping from one bar to another, I would definitely put this on your list.
And obviously we couldn’t end the night without dessert. We stopped at French Broad Chocolate, which has chocolates, desserts, ice cream, drinking chocolate, and basically everything you want after spending the evening singing at a piano bar. There was something about ending this very full day sitting together with chocolate that felt like the perfect way to wrap it up.
Is Biltmore Worth It?
This was one of the things I wondered about before our trip because Biltmore isn’t exactly a cheap little stop to add to your itinerary. After visiting, though, I absolutely think it’s worth experiencing at least once. The biggest thing I would change if I were planning it again would simply be making sure we had plenty of time. This isn’t somewhere I’d recommend squeezing between two other major activities. Make Biltmore the main event of your day, then keep the evening flexible.
I actually loved the balance of our day. We had our casual breakfast, spent the daytime doing something iconic to Asheville, and then completely switched gears for a fun night downtown. We didn’t need another tour or attraction after Biltmore. We just found a rooftop, had drinks, listened to music, walked around, and got dessert. It made the entire day feel like a vacation instead of an itinerary we were trying to complete.
Our Asheville Couples Getaway: Day Three
Looking back, day three might have been the best combination of everything I wanted this getaway to be. We started with biscuits, spent the day exploring Biltmore, wandered around downtown Asheville, had rooftop drinks, sang way too loudly at dueling pianos, and ended the night with chocolate. But my favorite part was getting another entire day with Jeremy where we didn’t really have to think about anything except what we wanted to do next.
I love traveling with our kids and making those memories together, but there was something really special about having this time for just the two of us. We could linger somewhere longer because we were having fun, change our plans because something else sounded better, stay out later than we normally would, and actually finish a conversation. Day three felt like a really good reminder that sometimes we need to make space for us, too.
See Our Day at Biltmore + Downtown Asheville
If you want to see everything we actually did instead of just reading about it, I shared our Day Three over on Instagram — from Biscuit Head and Biltmore to rooftop drinks, dueling pianos, and French Broad Chocolate.
Watch Day Three of our Asheville getaway on Instagram
DAY THREE AT A GLANCE: Biscuit Head → Biltmore Estate → Antler Hill Village → Downtown Asheville → Flat Iron Rooftop Bar → Off The Wagon Dueling Pianos → French Broad Chocolate